PS The academic statement of purpose is an important part of your overall application. This document provides you with an opportunity to summarize your credentials and your interests and to explain how your intellectual interests fit within the research interests of the faculty teaching in the American Culture doctoral program. Statements should be at least 500 words and should not exceed 1000 words. Applicants are encouraged to identify three faculty members with whom they are interested in working. Please note that faculty research fields/interests are included in their profiles on our website. Both core faculty and faculty associates serve as primary advisors and dissertation chairs for graduate students in the American Culture doctoral program. Students are not encouraged to contact these faculty in advance of admission to the department. Fee Non-U.S. citizens, $90 RL Three (3) letters of recommendation in support of the student's application must be submitted. These letters are ordinarily from professors at the student's last degree-granting institution. Recommenders must complete their recommendations online. When the applicant registers the recommenders' names in CollegeNet, an email is automatically sent with a link to enter the recommendation online. Applicants should check the status of their recommendations on the CollegeNet website status page.  Transcript Applicants must provide one set of official final undergraduate and graduate (where applicable) academic records/transcripts, with your degree posted. Official documents must be provided from the institution awarding the degree. The Rackham Graduate School requires that applicants submit one official academic record/transcript from each institution where you have earned or will earn a Bachelor’s, Master's, Professional, and Doctoral degree. All applicants must submit transcripts from all attended institutions in order to be considered for Fall admission. It is your responsibility to request the release of any such records from the institutions involved.